Gawker calls it a trend. Frankly, it's been a couple of years since I've heard of a kid climbing into one of those ripoff toy claw game machines, so technically, it's a revival.
What I can't quite figure out is how, at a mall, during Christmas, you let your 2yo out of sight long enough for her to climb into the thing in the first place. [Though that claw machine opening IS pretty big.]
Also, the kid was in there for at least 15 minutes before the fire department arrived to start taking their own pictures. So there should be like a dozen iPhone videos, but the local reporter can't come up with any more than a still? YouTube, you let me down.
Girl, 2, Climbs Into Toy Claw Machine At Robinson Mall, Gets Stuck [wpxi via gawker]
No videos? I guess everybody was running for quarters, trying to "win" her out of the machine.